The present invention relates to a fixing device making it possible to fix a dispensing member such as a pump or a valve to the neck of a receptacle. This type of device is in frequent use in the fields of perfumes, cosmetics, or indeed pharmaceuticals, for fixing a pump or a valve to the neck of a receptacle forming a reservoir in which the fluid to be dispensed is stored.
In general, this type of fixing device comprises a fixing ring and trim which extends around the ring so as to mask it at least in part. The trim has an aesthetic appearance function, but it can also perform a technical function in co-operation with the fixing ring. Usually, the trim is made of metal for reasons purely of aesthetic appearance. However, the trim can also be made of a plastics material.
Conventionally, the fixing ring includes a bottom skirt serving to come into engagement with the neck of the receptacle. The bottom skirt can extend inside the neck, but in general it extends around the neck. A variety of techniques are used for fixing the skirt into or onto the neck. For example, when the skirt extends around the neck, it is possible for the neck to form one or more inside snap-fastening profiles serving to come into engagement under a reinforced portion or xe2x80x9clipxe2x80x9d formed by the neck. The skirt can be in the form of a continuous cylinder, or else it may have flexible tabs extending side-by-side around the periphery of the skirt. The trim can then serve as locking means for holding the tabs in engagement under the lip. When the skirt extends inside the neck, said skirt can, for example, be provided with an outside snap-fastening bead serving to come into engagement in a recess formed inside the neck.
In addition to the bottom skirt, the fixing ring is in general provided with member-receiving means for receiving a dispensing member such as a pump or a valve. In general, the member-receiving means are in the form of a snap-fastening recess in which the top end of the body of the pump or of the valve is received by snap-fastening. Naturally, it is possible to consider other techniques for fixing the dispensing member to the fixing ring.
Finally, in general, the fixing ring is provided with a top socket which extends in a direction opposite to the direction in which the skirt extends, i.e. the free ends of the skirt and of the socket extend in opposite directions. When the skirt extends around the neck, the top socket may be situated substantially in alignment with the skirt. When the skirt extends inside the neck, the top socket has a diameter greater than the diameter of the skirt, and advantageously greater than the diameter of the neck.
The trim, which is in general made of metal, comprises a body which extends around the fixing ring, in general around the socket and at least a portion of the bottom skirt. The body of the trim is in general cylindrical, but it may also have other forms, e.g. it may be bullet shaped. The body of the trim is not necessarily in contact with the fixing ring.
At the top end of the body, the trim also forms an inwardly-extending rim which extends inwards and then downwards to define a substantially cylindrical inner sleeve. The inner sleeve extends substantially concentrically with the body of the trim.
It is already known from the prior art that the inner sleeve can be used to come into engagement with the inside surface of the top socket formed by the fixing ring.
Such a fixing device is described, in particular, in Document FR 2 776 989. The trim in that document includes a rim and an inner sleeve whose bottom end is provided with teeth adapted to bite into the top socket. This makes it possible to prevent the trim securely from rotating on the ring. However, in order to ensure that the trim is fixed properly to the ring, the trim is further provided with bottom retaining means which co-operate with the fixing ring. In other words, the toothed inner sleeve of that trim does not, on its own, make it possible to fix the trim reliably on the fixing ring.
An object of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art by defining a fixing device for fixing a dispensing member, in which device the trim includes an inner sleeve which, on its own, fixes properly and reliably to the fixing ring. Another additional object is to obtain such reliable fixing without implementing material-deforming methods such as crimping. It is relatively difficult technically to perform crimping at the sleeve. Another object of the invention is to provide reliable fixing at the sleeve merely by putting the trim in place on the socket of the fixing ring.
To achieve these objects, the present invention provides that the inner sleeve forms at least one resilient tab which extends outwards and upwards so as to define a free end which comes into contact with the inside surface of the socket. Since the resilient tab extends outwards, it has to come into contact with the inside surface of the socket via its free end. In addition, because the resilient tab extends upwards, it extends in sloping manner, with its free end forming its top end. Therefore, once they are engaged in the socket of the fixing ring, the free ends of the tabs are pressed into contact with the inside surface of the socket, and they thus oppose removal of the trim by acting as barbs. The more the trim is pulled, the more the free ends of the tabs bite into the inside surface of the socket. It is thus totally impossible to remove the trim from the fixing ring. In addition, since the resilient tabs are, by definition, discrete and non-continuous elements, it is possible simultaneously to prevent the trim from rotating on the fixing ring. The corners of all of the free ends of the tabs bite into the inside surface of the socket and thus act as rotation-prevention corners. Therefore, the resilient tabs that project outwards and upwards are sufficient in themselves to fix the trim properly to the fixing ring.
According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the socket forms an inwardly-projecting shoulder below which the free end of the tab is received. Since the tab is resilient, it can engage the shoulder when the trim is put in place on the fixing ring, and it then extends in its natural position outwards and upwards under the shoulder which thus forms an abutment surface permanently preventing the trim from being removed. In a variant, the shoulder may also be in the form of a groove in which the free end of the tab comes to be received when the trim is in its final position on the fixing ring. What is essential is that the free end of the tab comes into abutment against an abutment surface that permanently prevents the trim from being removed from the fixing ring.
In a practical embodiment, the trim may be provided with at least three resilient tabs distributed circumferentially.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the tab may be formed by a cutout in the sleeve. For example, the cutout may be in the form of an upside down U, inside which the tab is defined. When the trim is manufactured, the resulting tab(s) is/are folded outwards so as to extend finally out of the cutout and upwards. It should be noted that, with such trim, it is not necessary to provide any fixing operation for fixing the trim to the fixing ring, since the fixing takes place automatically on putting the trim in place on the fixing ring.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the inwardly-extending rim and the sleeve form an annular recess in which the socket is engaged via its free top end, the body of the trim being spaced apart from the socket at the free top end. Since the top end of the body is thus free, the inwardly-extending rim and the inner sleeve offer high elastic deformation capacity, which facilitates putting the trim in place on the fixing ring. During this assembly operation, the resilient tabs must be deformed to pass over the shoulder under which they can then be deployed freely again, thereby permanently fixing the trim to the fixing ring.